Hear My Voice
by AniGirl15
Summary: A collection of Naruto drabbles. Each one is told through the eyes of a different character. Possible spoilers up through current manga chapter.
1. Naruto: Blameless

I am not a monster.

I will not hurt you unless you hurt my friends. That's right, my _friends_. Do to me whatever you like.

Maybe it will reach the creature inside me. It's the one you want to hurt, right?

I don't ask my friends to stand up for me. I might not even deserve it sometimes. But I'll kill you if I find out you've hurt my friends. Just because they were standing up for me.

I may deserve it. But they don't.

You all were the ones who put the monster in me in the first place.


	2. Sasuke: Endure

I hated you.

I detested you.

For seven years, I have lived in an unsightly way.

You killed them all. I watched you do it. Over, and over, and over. You showed it to me. Your bloody, cruel, horrible victory. Mother. Father. Our entire family. You weren't testing yourself. You knew you were much stronger than all of them. You killed them to make me hate you. I looked up to you so much; I loved nii-san with all my heart. You're not nii-san. You took him from me.

Of course I clung to life. It was all I had.


	3. Sakura: Diversion

She woke, feeling something brush her hand. Sitting up suddenly, she watched the bird fly away. She had fallen asleep in the training grounds again.

"When you didn't show up this morning, I figured you'd be here, Sakura."

She mumbled an apology to her mentor, quickly standing and smoothing out her clothes. Tsunade looked her over.

"How about taking a day off? Spend some time with your friends."

She looked down, biting her lip. "No, that's alright."

She needed the work to distract herself. Naruto had gone training; Sasuke had run away. She was left behind again.


	4. Kakashi: Regret

I couldn't stop him. None of us could.

There are times that I can't help but look back. Could I have prevented this? The signs were all there. But I was stupid. I shut my eyes, refused to look. I convinced myself things would get better. I let everything stay as isolated incidents. I never put it together. If I had just looked at the big picture, this would have been obvious.

All I could do was take you back. No scent, no trail, no means of following. I was too late. Sasuke was already gone.

Naruto... I'm so sorry.


	5. Sai: Shinobi

Shinobi are tools.

We exist only to fight. Only to kill.

We cannot allow ourselves emotions. We cannot fear, for fear hinders our movement. We cannot love, for love hinders our judgment. We cannot enjoy, for enjoyment hinders our sense of duty.

We may not think if it is not about our mission.

We may not feel if it is not shame of failure.

Objective over life.

Life over friendship.

Listen to our superiors. Never question. Always obey.

We are only tools.

These were the things I was brought up believing.

These were the things Naruto showed me were wrong.


	6. Yamato: Irritating

What a team to be stuck babysitting.

The loudmouth nine-tails kid. Means well, but things get under his skin too easily. Charges in without thinking and is dangerously reckless.

Tsunade's apprentice. Almost completely takes after her mentor. Usually helpful, but push her buttons the wrong way and you'll soon find yourself with a broken face.

And, of course, the rogue. Not an ounce of tact in his body; sets the other two off like a match to dynamite. Has no concept of teamwork, and I have to keep an eye on him, too.

Geeze. This might as well be suicide.


	7. Iruka: Motivation

Being a teacher definitely has its perks.

I get to see every student that comes through the Academy. Some of them; I think to myself; will certainly go on to become great ninja, serving Konoha wonderfully.

Some of them I see become like I was. Those who can't get attention other ways seek it out through pranks and humor. Those are the ones I try to reach out to the most. I try to give them something to work for. After all, why would they bother wasting any effort on improving if there was no one around to appreciate it?


	8. Konohamaru: Name

Call me by my name. It's not that hard. I know you know it. So use it.

Don't give me the "honored grandson" crap. I'm sick of hearing it, I'm sick of being in my grandfather's shadow. I'm me. I'm Konohamaru. And one day I'm gonna become Hokage. None of you will give me that "honored grandson" _then_. You know why? Because it'll be _me_ up there. Not some old geezer who's my relative. _Me_. Myself. And you know what? Once I get up there, you'll call _my_ grandson by his real name, too. He'll also be his own person.


	9. Hinata: Improve

The poor girl was trying so hard to be strong. If only her father could see it. She pushed herself, harder, harder every day. She was trying her very best to make up for it all. She knew she had been weak. Now she was trying to overcome that weakness. She wanted to be better. She wanted to be stronger. She wanted to be worthy of her clan's approval. So she pushed, pushed herself. She hurt herself for them. She knew it would be painful. But she wanted them to look at her, just once, with a gaze of approval.


	10. Kiba: Grown

"He's grown," Naruto said. It caught Kiba a bit off-guard. He'd never actually noticed.

Akamaru had been his best friend for such a long time. They spent every day together. Thinking back, Kiba did remember noting that his dog had slowly been getting bigger. It wasn't until Naruto suddenly showed up again, after two years, that Kiba really thought back on it. Yeah... Akamaru _had_ been that small once. It's funny to think about, now. The dog he rides around on used to ride around on him. It was quite the change.

'Everyone's grown, though, haven't they? Even you, Naruto.'


	11. Shino: Nighttime

Sometimes, at night, if he lay very, very quietly, he could hear them. Crawling around inside of him. He was never afraid of the bugs living within his body. He had been raised with this being normal. It was, however, always strange to those he met. Almost everyone gave him a look, which was inevitably followed by the question, "How do you _live_ with those things?" How? It was easy. He'd grown up like this. It was a very simple concept. He had always been used to it.

But in the end, it made trying to fall asleep absolute hell.


	12. Kurenai: Progress

They've grown a lot. All of them. Especially Hinata.

When I was first assigned this team, I wasn't sure what to think. They certainly didn't get along that well. It took several missions for them to even bother trying any sort of cooperation.

But I'm glad. They've all come a long way. Kiba learned the meaning of the word "strategy". Shino was definitely hesitant about trusting others, but he's opened up, even if just a little. And Hinata. She's started believing in herself. I don't think I can take credit for that, though.

They'll grow up to be fine ninja.


	13. Ino: Friendship

Both of us... we weren't ever great shinobi. We tried... oftentimes it wasn't good enough. So I pushed you, you pushed me back. We weren't competing just for ourselves. We competed for each other.

Here, I'm the gutsy one. All talk, but no show, mostly. I can't think like Shikamaru, and I'm not strong like Chouji. I'm just... Ino.

And look at you, Sakura. You got to be with the amazing Sasuke. I'm so jealous, you know? But... that probably hits your self-esteem really hard. Even Naruto's getting better.

We... we're just extra, sometimes. So we'll get better. Together. Okay?


	14. Shikamaru: Leadership

Sometimes it's just easier not to care.

I don't let myself get bogged down by what could have been. There's no sense in it. What happened, happened. If I don't like it, I learn from it. Dwelling on the past isn't exactly helpful.

It also lets me ignore the guilt.

I hate having to think back and tell myself, "if only you had done this, if only you had realized that..." It makes me realize that my mistakes affect others. Drastically.

I don't want anyone to die. If I become a better leader, they'll survive.

It's so troublesome, though...


	15. Chouji: Companionship

"Being large is your strength." That was what my father always said. I tried my best to believe him, too. It was hard, though. The other kids would always leave me out of games, or insult me if I tried to join. One time they called me fat, and I just snapped. I think I broke one guy's nose.

If it weren't for Shikamaru, I probably wouldn't have any friends. He was the only one who didn't care that I wasn't very athletic. He's never called me fat, or insulted me. He actually thinks of me as a friend.


	16. Asuma: Intelligence

I don't think I've ever beaten him in shogi.

Just a testament to how people are different, I guess. I started playing against Shikamaru when he joined my team. The first time, I found him staring at a board. It was set up, ready to play; but he had no opponent. I still remember what he replied when I asked if I could join him.

"It's troublesome, but whatever."

He beat me so easily; I could barely believe this was the kid who did nothing in his classes at the Academy. But then I realized; he hadn't needed to.


	17. Neji: Waiting

I do not want to be trapped. I am not a pet; I do not want to be caged. I want to be myself, I want to be free.

Destiny never cared about who wants what, or who wishes anything. That's what I used to think. No matter how strong I became, I could always be defeated with little more than a thought from anyone in the main family. I was caught and imprisoned with this seal.

But maybe... maybe one day, things will change. So I train for that day; a day when merit may finally triumph over birthright.


	18. Tenten: Prejudice

We all want to be strong. And while I know that I'm not as skilled as Neji, or as tough as Lee, I'm strong in my own right. It's annoying that whenever we take a mission, the client always looks at _me_ as the weakest link in the team, as if I might be a burden to the others. Just because I'm a girl.

Girls can kick butt, too! Just look at Tsunade-sama. She's one of the legendary Sannin, and she's now Hokage. Female ninja can be just as strong as male ninja. Girls aren't weak. Weak ninja are weak.


	19. Lee: Determination

"Nine hundred ninety... seven!... Nine hundred ninety... eight!... Nine... hundred... ninety... nine...!"

The weights fell to the ground with a loud clang, and the boy stared at them dejectedly. His arms burned, and despite how much he wanted to life the barbells just one more time, he could barely even grip them. He hadn't been able to made it all the way to one thousand.

Oh, well, only one thing to do. The green-clad ninja took a deep breath, inhaling the warm afternoon air, and started to jog.

"Five hundred laps around the village, or I'll do two thousand punches!"


	20. Guy: Competition

Tomorrow shall be our one hundredth match!

And I shall win! For I have the power of youth behind me, fading though it may be! Kakashi, your "cool" attitude will be no more. Tomorrow, the results of our rivalry will not become a tie! For the first time I shall pull ahead of you by two whole matches; and the power of youth shall triumph! For we shall play a game that requires such skill, such mastery of one's own body, that you will be unable to defeat me!

Tomorrow, I will challenge you in the contest known only as... hopscotch!


End file.
